D-Day has come and gone.  The hours that made up June 6, 2013 have passed, just as most of the men who risked their lives on the beaches of France sixty-nine years ago have.  No big parades, no fanfare, no widely publicized messages of thanks to a generation who loses 600 a day. 

I live in one of the largest cities in North Carolina.  Neither the largest television station nor the major newspaper carried any stories mentioning D-Day until I e-mailed the news departments.  The newspaper searched and found a touching story about two men who fought together at Omaha Beach.  The television station, owned by a big Blueprint NC supporter, never did publish a story. 

A co-worker's father was involved in the landing at Normandy.  I had the honor of meeting him -- sadly, at the funeral of his wife.  He is not sure why he receives all the attention from his hometown newspaper, but he and his three brothers are celebrities because of their service involving "DDAY6644," as his license plate reads.  He will tell you that he was just doing his duty and following orders.  That day was just another day in a series of long and dangerous days he spent in Europe in 1944, but he made it home alive.  At the time, people knew what had to be done, and a man was expected to serve his country.  I think that for him, the importance of what he and so many others did in Normandy is finally sinking in.

I have a neighbor who served in the Navy during the Second World War.  He was a spotter for the big guns fired from the ships during the invasion.  His story, which might be slightly embellished through the years, tells of deeds performed by average men with two things on their minds: winning the war and coming home alive.  The selfless acts performed to accomplish the former make it incredibly difficult to imagine anyone accomplishing the latter.  There were no ballistic vests like those worn by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, no state-of-the-art materials or weaponry.  Just men wearing a uniform and carrying a rifle.

My father was a Marine who fought in the Pacific.  He received the Purple Heart for injuries sustained on Iwo Jima.  He always joked that he had it tougher as a Marine than the "dog faces" in the Army -- except for those who were involved in the D-Day landing.  He never had anything but respect for those brave men who stormed the beaches in France. 

America's "Greatest Generation" is dying at a rate of 600 per day.  For my city's mainstream media to have no coverage about D-Day is shameful.  We are seeing the results of leadership that does not care about honor, integrity, the people, or the Constitution.  Perhaps the mainstream media should stop and realize that without people like those they largely ignored yesterday, they would be publishing only what the State dictated.

On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you.  Those are words that everyone who has served deserves to hear while they still can.  Six hundred next of Kin are hearing similar words every day on behalf of a loved one who fought in World War II -- with no mention from the president.  But why would the president care?  These heroes are not the demographic that supports entitlements.  These heroes took a stand and risked everything to keep us free.

The president and his administration, including John Kerry, have no idea what it means to "serve."  Their only interest is being served by their subjects.  The "Greatest Generation" were no one's subject.  They fought and risked their lives to keep us from the tyranny that we have freely elected because of low-information (or no-information) voters being promised "entitlements," because of white guilt, and because of the lack of desire to work.  The government has made it too easy not to work and at the same time to have the quality of life that is better than someone who works and is not a burden to society.

The Greatest Generation fought their fight against tyranny.  Now it is time to turn back Socialism once again.  We fail to recognize the efforts of these men with parades and media attention.  If you were to take the time to talk with these veterans, parades and news stories are all well and good, but what they really want is for the country they fought to protect to remain free.  America needs to remember the lessons of these great men and make this country great once more.

These men have done their part.  Let it not be in vain or forgotten.